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Tag: rock
Rewind Review: Cream – Wheels of Fire (1968)
The third stop on my journey through the Cream (Ginger Baker – drums, Jack Bruce – bass and vocals, Eric Clapton – guitar and vocals) catalogue brings me to their double album Wheels of Fire.
The album opens with perhaps their greatest hit, “White Room,” in which Bruce sings about being trapped in a strange place while Baker’s drums try to break him out and Clapton’s guitar wails like someone in a mental asylum. It’s a great way to start a record. Many bands could (and did) learn from it.
Their cover of the blues classic “Sitting on Top of the World” is another fine entry into their list of blues-rock power tracks, and Clapton’s guitars are downright dirty on it. “Passing the Time” floats from rock to calliope-fronted psychedelia. “As You Said” is more tripped-out psychedelia with Bruce’s vocals layered with reverb, his acoustic guitar licks spiced with Arabic influences, and even playing cello on it.
“Pressed Rat and Warthog” brings in trumpet and recorder as Baker sings about an unlikely pair of pals with a weird store and Bruce and Clapton put down heavy riffs.
Everyone had a political statement to make in the 1960’s, and Cream was no exception. “Politician” is a sharp-witted sting on politicians using their position to get laid and ducking responsibility whenever possible (“I’m support the left though I’m leanin’ to the right, but I’m just not there when it’s comin’ to a fight.”). “Those Were the Days” mentions another subject common in 1960’s music – Atlantis. Bruce sings about ancient times and places and how he craves a return to such enlightened times before Clapton unleashes a quick solo that might raise the lost city from the depths.
Their cover of the blues standard “Born Under a Bad Sign” pretty much set the standard for covering the Booker T classic. You can tell they had a good time recording it, and Baker’s groove is so sick it needs penicillin. “Deserted Cities of the Heart” has an excellent guest violin by Felix Pappalardi (who contributes a lot to the album on several tracks and instruments).
The second part of the double album is a live recording from the Fillmore that opens with another one of Cream’s greatest hits – their cover of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads.” Eric Clapton, as you well know by now, shreds the tune like a crosscut saw. As good as it is, however, it’s really a warm-up for the epic version of “Spoonful” that clocks in at nearly seventeen minutes. “Traintime” has Bruce having a blast on harmonica while Baker keeps a Johnny Cash-worthy beat behind him. Baker then goes bananas on “Toad” – a drum solo over sixteen minutes long.
The live portion of the album is alone worth the purchase price. The psychedelic rock on the studio album is a great bonus.
Keep your mind open.
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Rewind Review: The MC5 – The Big Bang! Best of the MC5 (2000)
I once read a YouTube comment on a video of the MC5 (Michael Davis – bass and vocals, Wayne Kramer – guitar, piano, bass, vocals, Fred Smith – guitar, organ, harmonica, vocals, Dennis Thompson – drums, percussion, vocals, Rob Tyner – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion) in concert that said going to one of their shows was akin to an act of defiance. The MC5 embraced a punk rock political ethic before anyone knew what punk rock was, and their angry, wall-flattening sound and blatant references to sex, drugs, and sticking it to the Man were shocking at the time. The Big Bang! The Best of the MC5 is a great collection from Rhino Records that documents the band’s growth from garage rockers to Midwest rock giants who wouldn’t get their full due in other parts of the country until well after they called it quits.
Opening with one of their earliest singles, “I Can Only Give You Everything,” you can hear the band creating the raucous sound that would become their trademark. Wayne Kramer’s guitar riffs influenced everyone from the Smithereens to Nirvana. “Looking at You” is so fuzzy and frenetic that I’m sure Ty Segall plays it every night before he goes to bed. Kramer’s guitars on it are like something from a horror movie score. “I Just Don’t Know” is sweaty, dirty blues with thumping bass from Davis and Kramer’s guitars attacking you from all directions.
The next four tracks are from the band’s debut album, Kick Out the Jams, which was a live recording no less. “Ramblin’ Rose” begins with a testimonial call to arms by a friend of the band, Brother J.C. Crawford (“I wanna hear some revolution out there! Brothers and sisters, the time has come for each and every one of you to decide if you are going to be the problem or you are going to be the solution!”), before the MC5 make you feel like that guy in the chair from the Memorex ad and Kramer (who takes a turn at lead vocals) sings to the rafters. Their biggest hit, “Kick Out the Jams,” follows. It is so powerful that it feels like it might open a rift in space-time and pull you back to Halloween 1968 in Detroit when they recorded it. “Come Together” is a cheeky song about sex in which Tyner pretty much details getting off with his lady. “Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)” is almost relentless as it hits with heavy grooves and chanting vocals.
The next eight tracks are from their second album, Back in the U.S.A. “Tonight” calls for kids to “get together and have a ball” and reveals the band’s love of blues (especially in Davis’ bass). “Teenage Lust” calls to every one of their fans; as does “High School” (“Kids want a little action, kids want a little fun.”), which most likely inspired a good chunk of the Ramones’ catalogue. “Call Me Animal” has some of Thompson’s best drumming. The whole song has a beat you can’t shake. “The American Ruse” is a great example of the MC5’s political leanings (“They told you in school about freedom, but when you try to be free they don’t let ya.”). Tyner’s lyrics are scathing and still hold weight today. “Shakin’ Street” is another salute to American youth, this time with Smith on lead vocals. The title of “The Human Being Lawnmower” made it too risqué for much radio play, which is a shame because it’s a crazy, near-psychedelic freak-out of a tune. The title track to the album is a cover of the Chuck Berry classic. The MC5 worshipped at Berry’s altar, and they do him great homage.
The next five tracks are from High Time, starting with the powerful “Sister Anne” – a song about a tough, foxy nun (and listen to that harmonica solo!). “Baby Won’t Ya” brings a bit of soul to the MC5’s heavy rock as Tyner sings about a familiar subject – wanting sex – and Kramer sizzles on guitar. “Miss X” starts with simple piano chords, but then the guitars stroll into the room like professional hitmen and the song takes on a sinister edge for the next five minutes as Tyner sings a ballad, believe it or not. “Over and Over” is another biting rant not only at politicians, but also at people who only give lip service to revolutionary action. Tyner goes for broke on it, his voice nearly cracking multiple times throughout the track. “Skunk (Sonically Speaking)” brings in a full horn section, adding a wild funk the band was exploring just before they split up for good.
The compilation ends, wisely, with another live track – “Thunder Express.” It’s a great jam with Kramer making it sound easy on guitar and Thompson sounds like he’s having a ball behind his kit.
The MC5 were up for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, and they will (and damn well should) get in one of these years. They still influence bands to this day, their live performances couldn’t be touched, and finding bands that match their fury today is difficult. They made a big bang in the 1970’s, and it still resonates.
Keep your mind open.
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Ancient River – O.D.D.S. II
Psych-rock duo Ancient River (James Barreto – guitar and vocals, Alex Cordova – drums and synths) moved to Austin, Texas last year to fully embrace the psychedelic music scene there and the weird creative vibe of the place has led them to explore multiple music genres and play whatever they feel like playing. That freedom gives us O.D.D.S. II, a new album that collects tracks that don’t fit into one category.
The opener, “Welcome to the Underground,” is psychedelic guitars mixed with tribal drums and ghost-voice synths. “As I Am” is a wall-flattening rocker with Barreto and Cordova going for broke on their respective instruments, and Barreto not really giving a damn if you understand the lyrics.
“You Are They Light” is a groovy mix of hippie-psych and swirling shoegaze. It sounds like something the Beatles might’ve done on Rubber Soul if they’d eaten peyote before recording the album. They cut loose again on the appropriately named “Playground.” The guitars are as soaring as a kid on a swing and the drums are as bonkers as another kid on a merry-go-round.
“Let’s Open the Sky” is the track that is probably the closest to “classic” Ancient River (if you’ve heard all their material). It’s Barreto’s space-rock guitars and heavily reverbed vocals and Cordova’s Joy Division-influenced drumming assaulting you with walls of sound that come at you in all directions. I can’t wait to hear this one live. “Eleven” is a near chill-out instrumental, whereas “Russian Surf Party” is an instrumental for a movie score featuring hot Russian femme fatale vampires who spend their nights at the beach.
“Time for Giving” soars around your speakers like a comet and reminds me of some of Matthew Sweet’s early 1990’s work. “My Sonic Temple” refers to, I’m guessing, Barreto’s mind. It’s a wild ride of rolling cymbals and desert wind guitars and is probably the soundtrack to Ancient River’s recording sessions, let alone their walk down to the coffee shop.
Despite its name, “Last Song” isn’t the last song on the record. That is saved for “Star Boy.” “Last Song” is a slowly building mind trip that reminds me of sitting atop mountains in Tucson while a dust devil twirls miles away in the distance. “Star Boy” builds in a similar manner and sounds like something that was playing on Frank’s headset as he was floating away from the Discovery 1 in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
O.D.D.S. II is a good collection of psych-rock, space rock, and shoegaze that lets Ancient River stretch their muscles and cut loose. Get odd. You need to cut loose now and then.
Keep your mind open.
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Rewind Review: Radiohead – Airbag / How Am I Driving? (1998)
Spinning off the massive critical and commercial success of their now-classic album OK Computer, Radiohead released the Airbag / How Am I Driving? EP in the United States as a sort of “mega-single” when “Airbag” was a hit single. It contained not only the title track, but also six tracks that had previously been unreleased.
“Airbag” is instantly recognizable with its fuzzy guitars, slightly distorted beats, and Thom Yorke singing about the aftermath of a car wreck (which is probably an allegory for some sort of enlightenment experience). “Pearly” has crisp, almost toy box guitar layered over heavy shoegaze riffs. “Meeting in the Aisle” is instrumental music for a grocery store on a space station.
If that track is meant for a space station grocery store, then “A Reminder” is meant for the station’s jazz lounge. Mellow keyboards mix with machinery sounds, ambient crowd noise, and Yorke’s mysterious vocals. “Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)” is a quirky love song, as is “Melatonin.” “Palo Alto” is an angry diatribe against suburbia, the rat race, and comfortable complacency. Loud guitars smack you awake during the chorus while the verses are quieter affairs with more weird mechanical sounds lurking in the background.
OK Computer was an album about human beings becoming more and more alienated from each other as technology improved. This EP is like an epilogue to that record. It’s a short mix of songs that feature a lot of distortion, blips, bleeps, and paranoia. Get it if you want the bookend to one of Radiohead’s classic records.
Keep your mind open.
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Rewind Review: Cream – Disraeli Gears (1967)
Continuing with my journey through the Cream (Ginger Baker – drums and vocals, Jack Bruce – bass, harmonica, and vocals, Eric Clapton – guitar and vocals) catalogue, I’ve arrived at their second album, Disraeli Gears.
The album starts off with two of their biggest hits – “Strange Brew” and “Sunshine of Your Love.” Both are stoner rock classics. “Strange Brew” has Clapton unleashing blues licks right away and is pretty much about a witch giving him a love potion. It might also be about getting drunk on something you can’t identify. “Sunshine of Your Love” has epic shredding by Clapton and heavy rhythms by Baker and Bruce that influenced hundreds of bands after them.
“World of Pain” layers on the reverb as Clapton and Bruce sing about a gray tree and Baker puts down beats that range from simple time keeping to wild jazz. “Dance the Night Away” is shimmering psych-rock with Clapton’s guitar sounding like it’s a transmission from another dimension. “Blue Condition” is a slow, trippy bit of psych-rock, and “Tales of Brave Ulysses” is one of those great Cream tracks that you tend to forget they wrote. You instantly remember how great it is when you hear it. The band lays down tracks as heavy as the mythological hero’s exploits.
“Swlabr” is even heavier stoner-psych. Clapton chugs out chords that also shred, Bruce sings for the back row, and Baker beats his kit half to death. “We’re Going Wrong” has more trippy blues-psych guitar from Clapton (who, as you can guess by now, is stretching out and trying whatever he wants on the record). Clapton takes over lead vocals on “Outside Woman Blues,” which could be a classic blues track but Cream makes it a heavy stoner rock tune instead, and Clapton has a scorching solo on it while Bruce lays a bass line heavier than a steam engine. “Take It Back” is another track with heavy blues influences, and I won’t say anything about “Mother’s Lament.” I don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t heard it.
Disraeli Gears showed Cream was firing on all cylinders. Their next album included a second record of live tracks, one of which is now legendary (but aren’t they all, really?).
Keep your mind open.
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All Them Witches – Sleeping Through the War
Eight tracks are all that’s needed by All Them Witches (Ben McLeod – guitar, bass, mellotron, percussion, Charles Michael Parks Jr. – vocals, bass, guitar, mellotron, percussion, loops, Robby Staebler – drums, congas, Allan Van Cleave – keyboards, organ, piano, mellotron) to make a powerful statement about living in 2017 on Sleeping Through the War.
Starting with “Bulls,” the album goes head-first into psychedelic territory with reverbed guitars and vocals while Parks sings about sleeping through not only the wars outside our borders, but also the ones on TV, the ones in our heads and homes, and the ones right next door. “I’m married to my boredom,” he sings. How many of us can relate to that, either in our own lives or the lives of our loved ones?
“Don’t Bring Me Coffee” is a hammering rocker that I think is about the proliferation of hipster consumers. I don’t know which of the Witches played bass on this track, but whoever did was trying to flatten the studio walls. “Bruce Lee” is as fast and bold as its namesake, and I love the space-rock guitar in it as Parker sings about trying to center himself after a bad relationship has ended, and not by his choice. The band almost ventures into stoner rock on the prime numbered “3-5-7,” and that’s all right with me. Staebler’s grooves are sweet, and Van Cleave’s keys are, as usual, excellent.
“Am I Going Up?” is a fine example (in the guitar riffs) of the Nashville blues influences All Them Witches adore. The song is about the uncertainty of death, and Parks wondering if he’s going to heaven and how long he’ll have to wait in the ground before he moves in either direction (or at all). “Alabaster” is about Parks’ childhood, how much things and the people have changed around him, and how much he is changing into them (“Every day they look more and more like me.”). The whole band grooves hard on this track and I’m sure it’s excellent live.
“Cowboy Kirk” might be the name of a childhood hero of Parks (“Love you like I love Cowboy Kirk,” he sings at the beginning.), but the person seems to be an allegory for Parks’ wishes to return to a simpler time. The song isn’t simple, that’s for sure. The guitars are layered on top of each other and I love how Staebler’s drums stay crisp throughout the tune.
The closer is “Internet,” a song about how people use what should be a magnificent invention for learning, art, and outreach to instead hide from reality and do Big Brother’s work for them. “All the moss of my childhood turned to eggshell while I wasn’t looking. If you’re asking me, I’ve got one thing to say: If I can’t live here, guess I’ll go live on the Internet,” Parks sings, verbally throwing ice water in our faces.
Most of us are sleeping through one war or another. It could be a literal one that we hope will just end if we don’t pay attention (i.e., Syria) or one we stopped caring about a long time ago and are just going through the motions of it by this point. It could be a war with a dream we refuse to chase or a trauma we refuse to confess. We have to wake up. We have to open our eyes and, yes, get off the Internet.
We need this record.
Keep your mind open.
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Rewind Review: David Bowie – Live Santa Monica ’72 (2009)
Recorded live at the Santa Monica auditorium by local station KMET, Live Santa Monica ’72 captures David Bowie at the height of his Ziggy Stardust phase. His band was one of his classic line-ups – Mick Ronson on lead guitar, Trevor Bolder on bass, Mick “Woody” Woodmansey on drums, and Mike Garson on keyboards, and the set list is excellent.
Opening with “Hang On to Yourself,” Bowie and his pals come out rocking. Ronson and Bolder immediately put down riffs to show the audience they mean business. They tear into “Ziggy Stardust” and “Changes” right after, throwing down two tracks you’d figure they’d have in the encore but put on early instead. They’re great reminders of Ronson’s guitar skills. He was at the top of his funky game.
Bowie gets a little obscure, but still wows the crowd, with “The Supermen,” and then delivers a great performance of “Life on Mars?” (while Garson’s piano accompanies him quite well). Woodmansey puts down a slick beat on “Five Years,” and the crowd cheers in appreciation for it and Bowie’s assured vocals.
“Space Oddity” is another crowd favorite, of course, and Bowie uses his voice instead of his guitar to make the sound of Major Tom’s rocket rising from the surface of the Earth into orbit. “Andy Warhol” is a nice inclusion on this recording, as you don’t hear live versions of it much, let alone “My Death” (just Bowie and his guitar), “The Width of a Circle” (Ronson at his rocking best), and “Queen Bitch.”
Bowie introduces “Moonage Daydream” as “a song written by Ziggy,” and the whole band cooks on it. They’re fast and loose with “John, I’m Only Dancing,” and the inclusion of a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Waiting for the Man” is a nice treat. “Jean Genie” is wonderfully distorted cock rock. Bowie and his pals are so cheeky by now that Bowie momentarily screws up the lyrics of the closer “Suffragette City,” but he makes up for it during the encore of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide.”
It’s a great piece of Bowie history and worth the price if you’re a fan of the Thin White Duke, especially if you like his Ziggy Stardust / “classic” period.
Keep your mind open.
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Boss Hog set to release first album in 17 years this March.
Noise punks Boss Hog are set to release their first album in 17 years, Brood X, next month. Fronted by Jon Spencer and his wife Christina Martinez, the band’s original lineup is back together and just wrapped up a European tour. They only have five U.S. dates slated through spring, so don’t miss them if they’re in your town.
You can hear “17” off the upcoming album at the band’s website. It’s a welcome return of rock and roll.
Keep your mind open.
Rewind Review: Cream – Fresh Cream (1966)
I decided to explore the four classic albums by Cream (Ginger Baker – drums and vocals, Jack Bruce – bass, harmonica, and vocals, Eric Clapton – guitar and vocals) after hearing one of their many great blues covers not long ago. I found them all in a nice box set at a recent record collector show and decided to dive into some late 60’s stoner-psych blues.
It’s easy to forget that Fresh Cream was a sensation when it was released because Cream was practically a supergroup by the time it hit the stores. All three members had already played in prominent London bands (i.e., The Yardbirds, John Mayall’s bands) and were highly regarded for their skills.
The opener, “I Feel Free,” was an instant classic. It starts with a simple “bum-bum-bum” vocal and handclap rhythm before Baker’s crazy cymbal work, Bruce’s sharp vocals, and Clapton’s wailing guitar take over the song. “N.S.U.” has sizzling guitar work from Clapton, which might relate to the possible sizzling he was feeling in his groin at the time, as one of the rumored meanings of “N.S.U.” is that it stands for “Non-Specific Urethritis” – a venereal disease Clapton may have had back then (or perhaps a motorcycle since one is mentioned in the lyrics).
“Sleepy Time Time” is, most likely, about being high and / or sex afterglow. Baker’s jazz drumming on it is great. He’s known for his grooves and this song is a prime example of them. “Dreaming” could’ve been a 1950’s jukebox love song in another life. “Sweet Wine” has some of Clapton coolest playing on the record. Their cover of Willie Dixon’s blues classic “Spoonful” is a masterpiece and the longest song on the record.
I don’t know what a “Cat’s Squirrel” is, but it’s another bluesy rocker with great harmonica work by Bruce and wicked grooves by Clapton. “Four Until Late” is a Robert Johnson classic, so it’s only right that Clapton does lead vocals on it. Their cover of “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” will make you a Cream fan if you’re not by the time you reach the ninth track because they absolutely shred it. This was the song I heard that made me think, “I need to buy some Cream records.”
Cream was also the only band back in 1966 would could get away with covering Skip James’ “I’m So Glad” and have it be such a groovy psych-rocker. “Toad” is pretty much a five-minute and eight-second Ginger Baker drum solo, and that alone is worth a listen on this album.
They call stuff like this “classic rock” for a reason. Fresh Cream blew people’s minds in 1966, and it’s still mind-blowing, heavy, and fresh.
Keep your mind open.
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